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AbstractDuring the Second Abe Administration (2012-2020), Japan intensified its efforts to strengthen economic ties with Africa. This paper explores the reasons behind this shift and its implications for Japan’s African policy. Challenging the prevailing ‘Reactive State’ model of Japanese African policy, the study argues that the shift resulted from political and bureaucratic reforms that centralized power in the Prime Minister’s office (Kantei) and Abe’s favoritism toward the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). As a result, METI gained greater influence over African policy. Unlike the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, METI views Africa as a promising market with a limited Japanese presence and advocates for a more business-oriented approach. The paper concludes that Japan’s new policy provides a convincing reason why Japan must engage with Africa. However, Japanese companies do not always follow as the Government intended. Despite government efforts, the Japanese private sector remains hesitant to expand investment in Africa due to challenging business environments and the absence of legal frameworks between Japan and African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key features of today's global economy is an 'offshore world' of financial structures, institutions and techniques designed to provide secrecy, asset protection and tax exemption. While its worldwide impact is very significant, Africa is affected to an unusual extent by the strategies of tax avoidance/evasion, outward financial flows (both legal and illegal) and corruption enabled by the offshore world. This is corroborated by a number of quantitative studies of capital flight as well as by influential investigations such as the Pandora Papers, Panama Papers and Luanda Leaks. The offshore world's limited presence in the study of contemporary African politics, political economy and international relations is therefore striking. The purpose of this exploratory paper is to highlight this gap, provide a preliminary analysis, and suggest that the politics of African insertion in the global offshore economy merits more attention from scholars of African politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bio-medical model of 'mental health' and 'mental illness' that relates to the relationship between wellbeing and distress informs psychopathology and dominates conceptualisation in many Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic (WEIRD) populations. This paper aims to critique the model, questioning the appropriateness of psychopathology as a conceptual framework when working as a Western trained clinician with populations such as in China, Japan, Asia, the Middle-East and Africa. The paper also considers the cultural appropriateness of western notions of psychopathology when working inter-culturally in relation to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, and the Review of the Implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an analysis of certain key notions, such as solidarity and pragmatic solidarism in Hungarian foreign policy especially towards Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular during Communist times, as well as pragmatism as such, both during the Soviet period and in the post-Communist era. This will be contextualized in the gradual build-up of the Global South since the Bandung Conference of 1955. Special attention is provided to underscore the importance of education and government scholarships - as successful soft power tools - in fostering long-term relations with an enhanced interest in deepening economic cooperation. The article offers an analysis of the unfolding of the Hungarian Africa policies/strategies as a case study, but in the broader regional context of the Visegrad Four. The contribution of this paper to the field is that it broadens the relatively scarce literature on CEE foreign policies, in general, and on the Africa-policies, in particular, and offers a documented overview to better understand the Hungarian case, which has normative relevance for EU policies and geopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan's paradigm shift in foreign policy to geo-economics, necessitates that Islamabad look for opportunities within and outside the region to utilise its geographic and economic potential. This new policy shift makes the African region a key area of significance for Pakistan, owing to the huge trade and market potential of the region. The adoption of 'Look Africa Policy' by Pakistan is a key step. This paper aims to explore the options and opportunities for Pakistan in the African region. It analyses these opportunities and associated challenges in the light of economic diplomacy framework. The paper argues that Pakistan requires active diplomatic engagement at public and private levels both, to boost trade and economic relationship with African region for the mutual economic benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of international and collaborative publication trends in prominent behavior‐analytic journals has been a topic of interest for behavioral researchers. This paper focuses on publication trends from 1997 through 2020 in three prominent journals: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and Perspectives on Behavior Science (PBS). The variable of interest was the percentage of articles published per geographical category—Australasia/East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, and Africa. The results showed that 79, 96, and 87% of the published articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were conducted by researchers with a North American affiliation. Furthermore, 12, 4, and 4% of the articles in JEAB, JABA, and PBS, respectively, were coauthored by at least two researchers from different geographical categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand the implication of "Africa" in the ideational production of the Brazilian Armed Forces through an examination of essays developed by members of Army and Navy Schools between 2001 and 2020. The research highlights possible divergences of interpretation among both forces and multiple strategic emphases about the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As this introductory study argues, state socialist experts dispatched for Africa during the Cold War were an important current in global transfers of knowledge. The paper introduces the scholarship on socialist experts and their relations to international organizations, modernization theory and the concept of development. Furthermore, it also delves into the personal experience of the experts in the place of their positioning and how they affected and were affected by the environment they were sent to. The paper thus summarizes the state of art and explores the possibilities of where the research might go from here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese political and economic gains in Africa have been increasing at an alarming rate. Despite the fact that some of these have been favourable, China's presence in Africa has received considerable criticism. African states have similarly responded to this Chinese trend with most of them enjoying Chinese support ranging from economic development to political involvements. These however are mostly embraced by the so-called undemocratic states. China has a core direction on how they carry out their relations with any foreign nation. This paper aims at explaining these policies and see how effective they have been for the parties involved. The article is supported by qualitative data accessed from scholarly writings, the government publishes, articles, and also from web pages. Because the subject is broad in scope, a range of challenges was encountered relating to the authenticity of the sources. Similarly, the topic is rich in content; some parts of the coexistence of the relations shared by these two regions have been left out. Much emphasis has been directed toward economic relations without leaving out the social and political aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developing and developed countries have felt the impact of COVID-19 on global politics and trade. The African continent faces new threats in addition to already existing challenges like poor infrastructure, underdevelopment and weak institutions. Through an analysis of official speeches and UN reports on the emerging developments around COVID-19, this paper explores the impact of the pandemic on Africa and answers the critical question of the potential and place for Africa's international relations in a post-COVID world. While many argue that COVID-19 has further deepened the gap between Africa and the developed world, this paper argues that it has also created opportunities for innovation and a re-emergence of Africa as a more vital continent in global politics and far removed from its colonial legacy. This study finds that Africa's vast resources and wealth of experts; its innovative local industries and rapid response potential; its active community and grassroots; its committed private sector; the work of the African Union; the continent's geopolitical and economic position, and its many lessons position it to be a strong player in a post-COVID world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the literature on xenophobia views the phenomenon as a major challenge to the regional integration of Africa, the key nuances about how xenophobia affects regional integration, and how that could be tackled, have not been adequately captured. Addressing this knowledge gap, we examine the scholarly constructs surrounding citizenship and economic participation, as enablers of xenophobia and demonstrate how the state is called into these negotiations, and how that affects regional and continental integration. Methodologically, this paper adopts a thematic qualitative approach relying on relevant literature and theories from history, political science, migration studies, peace and conflict, international relations, sociology, and development studies. The analysis offers a threepronged argument that xenophobia (i) generates new discourses of 'othering' or belonging, (ii) promotes perceptions of betrayal and retaliation in foreign policy framing or ad-hoc actions and/or attacks on non-nationals, and (iii) redefines rights of occupancy or territorial belonging. The analysis of these dynamics offers valuable knowledge on security, development, and regional integration of Africa from in-country 'xenophobia studies' to both in-country and continental/regional level understanding of xenophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In line with its foreign policy objectives, Nigeria, since its independence, has been participating in Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) in Africa. It was in recognition of the country's commitment to the United Nations' (UN) objectives of maintaining peace and security that made it contribute troops to the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC) for the first time in 1960. For more than fifty years, Nigeria has continued to make giant strides and commitment in this regard. This paper examines the benefits it derives from participating in PKOs in Africa under the UN, OAU (now AU) and the ECOMOG. Using both primary and secondary data, the paper argues that a normative anxiety was the primary motivating factor for Nigeria's involvement in PKOs in Africa. This is driven by the idiosyncrasies of the country's leaders since its independence in 1960. Nigeria's decision-makers are confident that its participation in PKOs serves a number of foreign policy goals and provides for the nation's interests. The effort promotes the country's prestige and influence in the comity of nations and in Intergovernmental Organisations (the UN, AU and ECOWAS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing China's 2006 and 2015 Africa policies, this article reveals how China's political discourse has become more confident, practical, and depoliticised. In particular, this paper shows how education is allocated, promised, and embedded in China's 'shared' agenda, which is centred on development co-operation and mutual learning. It then reflects on the extent to which China may move towards traditional donors. This paper concludes that, despite fragmented convergences in the discourse and an increased recognition of a Chinese model, China maintains its distinctive role and position in the post-2015 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the place of non-economic drivers in China–Africa relations. While existing studies are hinged on economic relations between Beijing and the continent, this study focuses on non-economic aspects that underlie Africa's relations with China. Taking the soft power approach, the paper illuminates on the salience of attractiveness in international politics and interrogates sources of China's attractiveness in the continent and compares China's actions with those of traditional actors for broader empirical coverage and methodological rigour. The authors argue that while economic drivers are an important basis for understanding China–Africa relations, several fundamental features beyond the economic relations supplement the growing relations between Beijing and Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations is grounded on the Westphalian state system. Throughout the de-colonization period, the Organization ceased to be peculiar to the West only, and soon became the prevalent model in the entire globe. The Cold War also solidified and institutionalized the Westphalian State as the fundamental principle in international relations. The end of the Cold War, however, along with the collapse of the Eastern bloc, the challenges of peace and security in Africa, and the failure of the states in coping with humanitarian crises increasingly made the three fundamental principles of Westphalian state, namely the "non-interventionism", "sovereign-equality" and "territoriality" disputable among political scientists. New approaches and arguments on the end of the Classical Westphalian state and the emergence of a so-called "New Medieval Age" have widely been circulated. This paper alternatively suggests that, since the end of the cold war, the world politics has gradually and decisively been evolving into a system of states that could be called Neo-Westphalian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to describe and analyse progress with domestic HIV-related policies in PEPFAR partner countries, utilising data collected as part of PEPFAR's routine annual program reporting from U.S. government fiscal years 2010 through 2016. 402 policies were monitored for one or more years across more than 50 countries using the PEPFAR policy tracking tool across five policy process stages: 1. Problem identification, 2. Policy development, 3. Policy endorsement, 4. Policy implementation, and 5. Policy evaluation. This included 219 policies that were adopted and implemented by partner governments, many in Africa. Policies were tracked across a wide variety of subject matter areas, with HIV Testing and Treatment being the most common. Our review also illustrates challenges with policy reform using varied, national examples. Challenges include the length of time (often years) it may take to reform policies, local customs that may differ from policy goals, and insufficient public funding for policy implementation. Limitations included incomplete data, variability in the amount of data provided due to partial reliance on open-ended text boxes, and data that reflect the viewpoints of submitting PEPFAR country teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of African countries have passed the threshold of fifty years of Independence. Yet, the majority of them, save the Republic of South Africa, and a few ones here and there, are still struggling to develop the basic social and physical structures and infrastructures that can put them on the path of development and modernity. Against this backdrop, countless development theories and arguments have been proposed about why Africa is not developed and still is poor despite being the second largest continent and by far one of the richest ones there is. As a result, development has become an elusive quest and challenge for generations of African leaders and their frustrated populations. This paper is set to explore why Africa is not developing and shed light on other arguments that are overlooked when analyzing or debating why African countries are lagging behind in their socio-economic development quest. The paper intends to answer those questions in an interdisciplinary manner and touches upon social, cultural, religious, political, economical, and international relations factors. For, to understand Africa's economic problems, one has got to go beyond the mere economic indicators such as the GDP and GNP and bring to the fore other non-economic factors that are hampering Africa's development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing narratives in the discourse on China-Africa engagement are that China is developing Africa. This paper departs from those narratives because they disregard the agency of Africa's political elite. Basing its argument on the nature of the African political elite, the paper analyses their role in determining the impact of China's economic and trade engagement on economic development in their respective countries. To do that, it first discusses the nature and identity of African political elites, and examines how they control their states and scarce resources. Having done that, the paper then analyses their role in determining the nature and extent of development emanating from their countries’ economic engagement with China. It then concludes that it is not how much foreign states invest in African countries that determines Africa's rise, but rather political elites who influence the direction of their states’ development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks why Kenya invaded Somalia in October 2011. It scrutinises five possible explanations as to why Kenyan decision-makers decided to invade neighbouring Somalia. The explanations are inspired by different theoretical frameworks. Some are inspired by theories developed to analyse Western societies, whereas others are inspired by theoretical reflections aimed at understanding politics in Africa. It is concluded that the decision to invade Somalia was made because of the institutional and ‘bureaucratic’ interests of the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) advanced by a limited number of men of Somali-Kenyan origin who pursued their own interests. Security and economic concerns did play a role, while the paper dismisses that the invasion can be understood as a consequence of the Kenyan government pursuing an ‘international image management strategy’. Theoretically, the paper concludes that ‘Western’ theories may contribute to explaining the launch of ‘Linda Nchi,’ whereas Africa-focused theories like neo-patrimonialism seem less helpful in this particular context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on Shane Godbolt's commitment to international librarianship and global health and her guiding principles for international working. The authors examine and celebrate how these have been applied in practice, impacting many. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the significant roles Shane Godbolt played in promoting partnerships and collaborations and strengthening the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA). It presents the personal reflections of each author about Shane, the part she played in their professional and personal lives as well as Shane's vital support for AHILA and AHILA members during her lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper engages critically with the increasing importance of South–South cooperation and the shift from African–European to African–Asian interaction. It argues that South–South cooperation is too often framed in a spatial logics of regional integration and transregional cooperation and thus reproduces spatial understandings that are characteristic for African–European relations but misplaced in the context of African–Asian relations. Moreover, it analyses perceptions about the difference of European and Asian cooperation partners amongst political and societal elites in Kenya and Tanzania, arguing that instead of a shift from African–European to Afrasian spaces of interaction, the two mutually coexist and fulfil complementary functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effectiveness of global governance institutions in the light of changes in the global system, and how such changes can be observed in the international arena. This study focuses on the African system of human rights as an example of global governance institutions operating within the liberal global order created in the post-war era by the United States. This paper uses Oran Young's1 framework of effectiveness of international institutions to examine whether the African human rights system is effective. Based on that framework, the paper observes that the African human rights system has been able to move beyond human rights treaty ratification by African states to the establishment of treaty bodies that have demonstrated dynamism in response to challenges in the African human rights system, as well as changes in the liberal global order. However, there is more to effectiveness of institutions of global governance beyond the dynamism demonstrated by the African system of human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though many African and Asian countries share a common history of European colonialism and thus a model of economic development shaped within the aegis of center-periphery analysis, many Asian countries have been able to ride through the burden of center-periphery economics and built more successful political economies than most African countries. This state of affairs has often led many African analysts to point to Asian success stories like China and South Korea for comparative analysis and often see these Asian countries as models of socio-economic and socio-cultural success to emulate. In particular, Africans in the Diaspora, especially Africans in China, tend to compare very frequently the socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions of their host countries with those of their source countries. This paper outlines and discusses how a group of Africans living in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia see Korea and Korean culture through the prism of Korean television dramas, which constitute a popular cultural phenomenon among Hong Kong/Asian youths. Through qualitative and quantitative survey methods, participant-observation, and questionnaire surveys, the paper reports on how African community members of Hong Kong and others think of Koreans. We show that Africans draw a lot of comparisons between Korean and African ways of conceptualizing the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neopatrimonialism, according to the distinguished development scholar, Thandika Mkandawire [2015. "Neopatrimonialism and the Political Economy of Economic Performance in Africa: Critical Reflections." World Politics 67 (3): 563-612], provides the 'common denominator' for a host of practices of politics in Africa; viz. patronage, corruption, cronyism, and predation. So deeply embedded is this view among mainstream thinkers, that 'underneath every policy lurks neopatrimonialism', that the idea has come to be imbued with the 'air of irrefutable common sense'. This paper deconstructs common sense refracted through the lens of present-day statecraft and the deceptive and subversive nature of contemporary neoliberal governance. It cautiously outlines the contours of a new common sense, placing emphasis on theorisation, a situated politics, institutional recalibration, fundamental changes in social relations, and the adoption of 'bad' and unorthodox development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the world has experienced remarkable progress in health care since the last half of the 20th century, global health inequalities still persist. In some poor countries life expectancy is between 37-40 years lower than in rich countries; furthermore, maternal and infant mortality is high and there is lack of access to basic preventive and life-saving medicines, as well a high prevalence of neglected diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Moreover, globalization has made the world more connected than before such that health challenges today are no longer limited within national or regional boundaries, making all persons equally vulnerable. Because of this, diseases in the most affluent countries are closely connected with diseases in the poorest countries. In this paper, we argue that, because of global health inequalities, in a situation of equal vulnerability, there is need for global solidarity not only as a means of reducing health inequalities, but also as a way of putting up a united force against global health challenges. We argue for an African approach to solidarity in which the humanity of a person is not determined by his/her being human or rational capacity, but by his/her capacity to live a virtuous life. According to this view of solidarity, because no one is self-sufficient, no individual can survive alone. If we are to collectively flourish in a world where no individual, nation or region has all the health resources or protection needed for survival, we must engage in solidarity where we remain compassionate and available to one another at all times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the central ethical tenets of research in developing countries is the sponsor's obligation to benefit host participants and communities. Two known models of benefits provision dominate the ethical discourse of research in developing countries. The first model, known as the "reasonable availability," endorses the obligation to provide interventions proven to be effective at the end of a study. This contrasts with the second model, known as "fair benefits," which endorses other forms of benefits that host communities may deem as fair beyond those derived directly from the study's findings. This paper explores a third benefit model consistent with the writings of the Human Hereditary and Health in Africa (H3Africa) research initiative. The H3Africa-a North-South collaborative initiative predicated by U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust and the African Society of Human Genetics upholds a benefit model that endorses capacity building as the primary obligation of its research agenda. This is evident by the endorsement of mechanisms to strengthen capacity building in its research projects. While capacity building remains a plausible means of improving the expertise, quality and independence of research in Africa, sustainable measures are needed to realizing the full potential for African-led research on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by long-standing ties with India, and intertwined with globalmarket interests, a growing influx of materia medica from South Asiais currently emerging in East Africa. To compete at a global level andframed within the language of ‘South–South cooperation for mutualbenefit', India presents itself as an appropriate exporter of medicalproducts suitable for African clientele. The expansion of India'smedical sector into Africa is particularly relevant for Ayurvedicpharmaceuticals. Ayurveda's diaspora into Africa exemplifies theemergence of new health interventions and medical assemblagesin a transnationally interconnected world and implies innovativecoalitions involved in the complex promotion of local/Global Healthindustries. By tracking the flow of Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals toEast Africa, this paper aims to contribute to the understandingof medical practices as they are configured by the dynamics ofglobal mobility. It interrogates the extent to which theindustrialisation of Ayurveda occupies a strategic position in IndoAfricandiscursive practices and the creation of new marketopportunities. Moreover, it explores the ways in which South–Southalliances between Indian and African actors produce (new)solidarities, but also hierarchies and power imbalances. Specialattention will be directed to the political-economic implications ofthe expansion of transnational markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Nigeria's current foreign policy under the Fourth Republic (May 1999-). It investigates the gamut of events surrounding Nigeria's foreign policy-making and practice since independence (1960) and how this compares with the Obasanjo (1999-2007) administration's efforts at foreign policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria's recently hard-won recognition in the international system after 16 years of military authoritarianism. The paper argues that the Obasanjo administration was a success given the range of domestic and international issues that the administration was able to address. The article supports this by focusing on the main issues in the life of the administration, including Africa's security management, Africa's economic development, and the launching of NEPAD among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the history of the oldest theatre in Eritrea, Cinema or Teatro Asmara, and seeks to understand how the theatre has been seen and used by its multiple owners and users from 1918 to the present day. Eritrea has had a complex modern history, being ruled from Italy, Britain and Ethiopia before achieving independence in 1991, and each government has had an uneasy relationship with culture, seeking to varying degrees to control and manipulate what could be shown in the nation's de facto national theatre. By exploring the organizations that have run and put on performances in the building, and looking at some of the theatre they produced it is my contention that we can understand much about the cultural aspirations, anxieties and aesthetics of the artists living and working in Eritrea over the last hundred years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a well-established historical fact that Africa and India have cultivated continuous connections for thousands of years. Exchanges of commodities produced on each side of the Indian Ocean in specific political, administrative, and geographic spaces have constituted the guiding thread of these relations. In the modern and contemporary periods, these relations have been shaped through European colonial establishments and their legacies in both sides. Past policies of forced migration and resettlement for economic exploitation of the British colonies in Africa, especially East and Southern Africa, became determinants of the Africa-India relations. The anti-colonial and decolonization struggles in Asia in general and specifically in India and Africa throughout the 20th century created opportunities for a new Africa-India cooperation. In these new relations, formal education, especially higher education, have been playing a prominent role. The thrust of this paper is to analyze the important role of higher education in a South-South cooperation framework between India and Africa as a continent or individual countries. The fluctuating or declining patterns of the number of African students pursuing their education in India in the past decade or so are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite a global recognition from all stakeholders of the gravity and urgency of health worker shortage in Africa, little progress has been achieved to improve health worker coverage in many of the African human resources for health (HRH) crisis countries. The problem consists in how policy is made, how leaders are accountable, how the World Health Organization (WHO) and foreign donors encourage (or distort) health policy, and how development objectives are prioritized in these countries.Methods: This paper uses political economy analysis, which stems from a recognition that the solution to the shortage of health workers across Africa involves more than a technical response. A number of institutional arrangements dampen investments in HRH, including a mismatch between officials' tenure in office and program results, the vertical nature of health programming, the modalities of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in health, the structures of the global health community, and the weak capacity in HRH units within Ministries of Health. A major change in policymaking would only occur with a disruption to the political or institutional order.Results/conclusions: The case study of Ethiopia, who has increased its health workforce dramatically over the last 20 years, disrupted previous institutional arrangements through the power of ideas-HRH as a key intermediate development objective. The framing of HRH created the rationale for the political commitment to HRH investment. Ethiopia demonstrates that political will coupled with strong state capacity and adequate resource mobilization can overcome the institutional hurdles above. Donors will follow the lead of a country with long-term political commitment to HRH, as they did in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a substantial body of literature on the principles of good partnerships and the rationale for such partnerships in research capacity strengthening. This paper illustrates the long term effects of a multi-country (8 countries) global partnership for health systems research capacity development (Connecting health Research in Africa and Ireland Consortium - ChRAIC) in relation to its contribution to capacity strengthening, public advocacy and policy influence at different levels and its practical achievements in Sudan in addressing access to maternal health services.Methods: The authors (all members of the global partnership) reflect on the project in one of its' partner countries, Sudan, over its' five year duration. This reflection is supported by specific project data collected over the period of the project (2008-2014). The data collected included: (i) 6 monthly and annual donor reports; (ii) a mid-term internal and end of project independent evaluation of the entire project, and; (ii) a Ph.D study conducted by a member of the Sudanese research team.Results: The ChRAIC project in Sudan achieved the deliverables set out at the beginning of the project. These included a national knowledge synthesis report on Sudan's health system; identification of country level health systems research priorities; research capacity assessment and skills training, and; the training and graduation of a Sudanese team member with a Ph.D. Mechanisms established in Sudan to facilitate these achievements included the adoption of culturally sensitive and locally specific research and capacity strengthening methods at district level; the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at country level between the Ministry of Health, research and academic institutions in Sudan, and; the establishment of country level initiatives and a research unit. The latter being recognized globally through awards and membership in global health forums.Conclusion: We surmise that the 'network of action' approach adopted to partnership formation facilitated the benefits gained, but that adopting such an approach is not sufficient. More local and contextual factors influenced the extent of the benefits and the sustainability of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As many challenges exist for access to diabetes care in developing countries, the International Insulin Foundation developed a Rapid Assessment tool and implemented this approach to identify barriers to care and propose concrete recommendations for decision makers. The objective of this paper is to identify the factors that contributed to informing and influencing policymakers with regards to this work.Methods: A documentary review comprised Stage 1. Stage 2 used an online questionnaire to gain insight from users of the Rapid Assessment results. Based on Stages 1 and 2, Stage 3 comprised in-depth interviews with a total of nine individuals (one individual each from the six participating countries; two individuals from the World Health Organization; one "Global Diabetes Advocate"). Interviews were analyzed based on a list of themes developed from Stage 2.Results: Stage 1 led to the identification of various types of documents referring to the results. The online questionnaire had a response rate of 33%. Respondents directly involved in the assessment had a "Good" or "Very Good" appreciation of most aspects and scored these higher than those not directly involved. From the interviews, formalized methods and close collaboration between the international team and local partners were strengths. Trust and a relationship with local partners were also seen as assets. All stakeholders valued the results and the credibility of the data generated. Local partners felt that more could have been done for dissemination.Conclusion: This study shows the importance of specific results from the different assessments. In addressing complex issues having external experts involved was seen as an advantage. The uptake of results was due to the credibility of the research which was influenced by a mix of the people involved, past assessments, trusted local partners, and the use of the results by knowledge brokers, such as the World Health Organization. Through these brokers, others gained ownership of the data. The methods used and the fact that this data was grounded in a local context also reinforced its value. Despite limitations, this study offers a unique perspective where a similar research approach was taken in six countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the total amount of alcohol consumed in the African region is expected to increase due to the growth of new alcohol consumers, especially young people and women. With the changing alcohol environment, increases in the alcohol-attributable burden of disease are inevitable. To our knowledge, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of the factors that could be driving those increases. The objective of this study was to examine the evidence from peer reviewed literature regarding the factors that could be instrumental in this process, in order to inform strategic policy-related decisions. Method A narrative review was conducted using a thematic analysis approach. We searched papers published between January 2000 and July 2014 in PubMed, the WHO's Global Health Library and African Journals Online. Results Our analysis identified seven factors (demographics, rapid urbanization, economic development, increased availability, corporate targeting, weak policy infrastructure and trade agreements) which are potentially tied to changes in alcohol consumption in Africa. Driven largely by globalization, a potential convergence of these various factors is likely to be associated with continued growth in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. Conclusions To address the emerging risk factors associated with increased alcohol consumption, African governments need to take a more active role in protecting the public's health. In particular, important strategic shifts are needed to increase implementation of intersectoral strategies, community involvement in the policy dialogue, health services re-orientation and better regulation of the alcohol beverage industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As international relations actors in the post-Second World War world, international organisations have played a significant role in the standardisation of global policy concepts during the 20th century, and humanitarian assistance has been no exception. While the study of the role of international organisations in shaping a dominant model of humanitarian aid has recently gathered pace, few historians have focused on different, less successful models and interpretations developed by other international organisations. Recently declassified Commonwealth Secretariat records show that discussions within the Secretariat and among member states regarding the potential objectives and scope of Commonwealth humanitarian assistance programmes took place as early as the 1960s, and continued throughout the following decades. This article provides an overview of the origin and evolution of the Commonwealth’s approach to humanitarian assistance since the 1960s. Its objective is to document this hitherto little known aspect of Commonwealth assistance policies, and, based on an initial literature and archival survey, to contribute to the identification of further research questions and gaps in this aspect of Commonwealth history. Although they are very different in nature and scope, the Commonwealth and the European Union share at least one common feature in so far as humanitarian assistance is concerned, namely their difficulty in reaching a consensual definition of it. By exploring the links and discrepancies between, as well as within, each organisation’s approach to humanitarian assistance, and by examining the initiatives of some of their member states, this paper seeks to highlight the plasticity of the definition of humanitarian assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1905 the Campos Rodrigues Observatory (CRO) was founded in Lourenço Marques (nowadays Maputo), the capital of Mozambique, by then part of the Portuguese overseas empire. In this paper the inception and early history of the CRO are analysed in the broader context of the interwoven history of the Portuguese and British empires in Africa, and specifically with respect to the scientific relations between Mozambique and South Africa. The equipment, personnel, practices and networks involved in the inception and early development of the CRO are brought into focus in order to illustrate the problems and strategies that shaped the establishment and functioning of this observatory, which was conceived essentially as a symbol of imperial stamina and colonial prowess. It is suggested that by providing a focal point for the development of scientific relations between Mozambique and South Africa, the CRO served both Portuguese ambitions for recognition as an imperial power and the emergence of South African nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prioritization of the South-South axis during the Lula da Silva government is consensual among analysts of Brazilian Foreign Policy regarding its international insertion, as well as the prominent role given to the African continent. In order to provide empirical analysis to the reprioritization of relations between Brazil and Africa, this paper aims at comparing the technical cooperation provided by Brazil to African countries during FHC (1995-2002) and Lula da Silva (2003-2010) administrations. Its primary source of analyzed data, little explored by the Brazilian academic literature yet, was the databank of the Department of International Acts of the Ministry of External Relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]